Platitudes or Promises?

In our dining room is a homemade poster from 2020: "things we are looking forward to."  It features all sorts of simple things that we couldn't do at the time, but trusted we would experience again.  Every single one, from "seeing friends," to "going on holiday," has since been ticked off.  That sense of loss is now mostly just a faint memory, echoed in heightened appreciation of things we previously took for granted.

During lockdown, someone kindly sent our boys a card, that simply said, "everything is going to be ok."  It's a sentiment that we want to believe, isn't it.  We would love to be able to wholeheartedly whisper this into our children's ears to comfort them in any number of struggles and fears.  If we're honest though, our best intentions and fiercest efforts can't really guarantee ok-ness in 'everything.'

Here's another phrase that I sometimes hear (and inwardly groan): "everything happens for a reason."  Codswallop.  Imagine telling that to those struck by unimaginable tragedy or violated by horrific crime.  Many things that happen are not ok, and will not be made so through greater understanding.  The passage of time may well bring some healing, but that is not the same as 'making sense of everything' so that bad things should somehow matter less.

Sometimes we become able to look back and see what we've learned, or how beauty or strength 'grew' out of difficult circumstances.  I've witnessed some incredible responses in the face of relentless suffering.  However, I've also seen lives warped by abuse and trauma.  Platitudes don't cut it, and we'll do everyone a favour if we face up to this and find ways to be with those who are struggling—sometimes just in silent solidarity.

At times of trouble or grief, some want to growl at the idea of faith in a God who seems either weak or indifferent.  On the other hand, there is a tendency to speak wishful nonsense and even, I guess, to vaguely associate such sentiments with Christianity.   To offer pretty thoughts about stars or wings, 'the sky,' or the idea that 'death is nothing,' seems to me about as much good as saying, "there'll be a reason."  It's like giving a handful of feathers to someone who is desperately thirsty.

If this seems to sound faithless, let's not confuse fluffy platitudes with clinging onto the promises of God.  Romans 8:28 (NRSV) says: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."  To isolate, "all things work together for good," is misleading for a start, but the potential for God to work through our experiences is certainly not the same as saying "God planned all that because..."

Christian faith won't neatly answer all our questions, quick-fix all the mess, or anaesthetise all our pain, but it does point us to One who is for us, who 'gets it' like no other, and has willingly suffered to deal with it all.  Jesus is both able and willing to create beauty from ashes, but first meets us in the rubble and weeps with us there.⬦

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